Advised Tristin Jones as Supreme Court of Canada considers legality of seizure of text messages

The Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal in R. v. Jones, a case dealing with police seizure of text messages from service providers such as telecommunications companies. In this potentially ground breaking case, the Court has been asked to decide whether police may seize text messages from the transmission storage systems of service providers, using the relatively simple process of a production order. Or whether, as electronic conversations in which the originator has a reasonable expectation of privacy, a Part VI “wiretap” authorization is required, even where the messages already exist in the service provider’s transmission system. The case will provide direction as to how such evidence may be collected in Canada, and, along with the companion case of R v Marakah, will provide further guidance as to the expectation of privacy in Canada of users of electronic devices in sent text messages found on the recipient’s account or device.. Both the Federal and Ontario Crown prosecutors were Respondents on the appeal. The parties were joined by six intervenors including the Criminal Lawyers Association (Ontario), the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, the Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales du Québec and the Attorney General for British Columbia. Fasken Martineau acted as counsel to Jones in this matter and appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada on his behalf. The Fasken Martineau team included Patrick McCann and Peter Mantas. The Court has reserved its decision.